Development Matters Blog

Here is an example of using the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Outlook Connector to locate information you need.

Lets say one of your Users gets an notification email as a result of a workflow, which informs the user that a previously created case has been Canceled. In the email, the workflow contains only the data about the case ID, case name, and the related technology.

As the case owner, the user needs to see more details and the reason why the case has been marked as canceled. Instead of searching for the case in Microsoft Dynamics CRM… if CRM Outlook is installed, the user can open the notification email, click the “Track in CRM” button:

 and then “View Regarding” in the CRM tool bar:

The regarding case will be opened and the user will be able to see all of the case details.

SQL Reporting Services 2008 R2 provide some new cool functions, including: Lookup, LookupSet and MultiLookup.

Those functions are the most useful for getting data from two different data sources (like one from CRM fetch, and the other from GP data base). A couple of times, I have needed to collect data from CRM based on some values from Dynamics GP (like collecting all open opportunities from a CRM customer which is also available in GP). This is the right place to use LookupSet function. However, since it only returns a list of objects, it is hard to get sum of, for example, the estimated values of open opportunities for a specific user.

To calculate the lookup values you will need to add some custom code:

Function SumLookup(ByVal items As Object()) As Decimal
If items Is Nothing Then
Return Nothing
End If
Dim suma As Decimal = New Decimal()
suma = 0
For Each item As Object In items
suma += Convert.ToDecimal(item)
Next
Return suma
End Function

So, if you want to use those sums in a report table you just need to call the SumLookup function

Code.SumLookup(LookupSet(CUSTNMBR,customername,estimatedValue,”CRM”)).

Merit Solutions has been selected by Microsoft as 1 of 6 Worldwide Partners to participate in their Partner Business Systems (PBS) Pilot Program, effective July, 2010. The Partner Business Systems is part of the Microsoft Dynamics Partner Readiness Strategy, which represents Microsoft’s commitment to deliver subsidized advanced training, guidance and systems to set a trajectory for profitable growth.  Partner Business Systems helps partners monitor, manage and scale their businesses.

Merit Solutions has been chosen as the pilot partner for Microsoft Dynamics AX, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and Microsoft SharePoint integrations.

What is Partner Business Systems?

• CRM and  ERP applications that help Partners automate, manage and track key business processes
• Systems that incorporate Microsoft’s best practice sales, implementation and financial processes
• BI tools that provide insight into business results and critical KPIs, both leading and lagging
• Web services that ease integration and collaboration with Microsoft

Why Partner Business Systems Matters:

• Partners need complete insight into business critical KPIs
• Partners’ systems need to capture key performance data
• Partners need proper infrastructure to enable scalability and growth
• Collaboration capabilities are needed across the Dynamics eco-system
• Partner Business Systems improves business insight/oversight and enables scalability
• Partner Business Systems automates and supports best practice business processes

You have installed the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 5.0 CTP 3 version on Windows Server 2008 R2. Over time, you have made a lot of customizations – mostly based on Jscript. You decided to add some custom workflows and additional plug-ins for CRM and you decided to install Visual Studio 2010 with latest SP. Installation was finished successfully and you are able to use Visual Studio for development. However, adding web reference in the VS project indicates that the CRM server is not available. When you try to assess it via URL you are getting the configuration error like on the screen bellow:

To resolve the issue follow the next steps:

• Check the Application pull for CRM
  • Select Advanced Settings for CRMAppPool on the IIS server and be sure that it is using appropriate .NET framework version. It should be v4.0.30319.
• Check the CRM site
  • Select Microsoft Dynamics CRM site and the Handler Mappings on the right panel. Check all resources have a valid path (especially those which ends with 64bit). A path should end up with the folder which contains the appropriate dll or managed code defined in the feature. Make sure that appropriate framework version is used. For features which contain 4.0_64bit in name path should point out Framework v4.0.30316
• o Restart ISS and try to access the CRM Server.

Merit Solutions, Inc., a 2009 Microsoft Dynamics President’s Club member and provider of Microsoft Dynamics business applications, is proud to announce the successful go-live of Mid-Continent Instruments’ new Microsoft Dynamics CRM implementation. Based in Wichita, Kansas, Mid-Continent Instruments is an industry leader in the overhaul/exchange, repair and manufacturing of aircraft instruments for the general aviation industry; the company operates on of the world’s largest FAA-authorized instrument overhaul and exchange programs. In an effort to automate business processes and improve customer contact management, the company began to look for an easily deployable customer relationship management (CRM) solution.

Mid-Continent has used the Microsoft stack for its core IT infrastructure for a number of years, and its IT team is very familiar with the Microsoft development and integration products and tools. Their employees are also familiar with the Microsoft Dynamics and Office systems, having used Microsoft Dynamics GP and many Office programs daily. “The capability of Microsoft Dynamics CRM to easily integrate with other Microsoft products, such as Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft SharePoint, and Microsoft Office, was the determining factor in our decision,” says Cindy Highbarger, Chief Financial Officer at Mid-Continent.

Merit Solutions helped Mid-Continent review internal sales, service, and marketing processes to determine a way to automate business processes and improve the company’s responsiveness to changing market trends. Additionally, Mid-Continent wanted real-time access to information about all interactions with customers. Using the Microsoft Dynamics Sure Step implementation methodology, Merit Solutions was able to successfully implement Microsoft Dynamics CRM with real-time, two-way integrations with Microsoft Dynamics GP and Mid-Continent’s phone system. The Microsoft Dynamics CRM solution will provide Mid-Continent employees a more unified way to track customer information and sales data across the entire company.

When asked what she liked about working with Merit Solutions, Cindy appreciates Merit’s ability to implement new solutions in order to improve internal operating procedures. “Merit Solutions has always been able to fit new software systems to our optimized business processes, without making Mid-Continent accept less-than-optimal processes in order to fit any systems.”

Learn more about Mid-Continent Instruments.